Opinion
Editorial

Grits dump thriftless, bungled green plan

It's difficult to put the toothpaste back into the tube, but the Ontario Liberals are going to try. They've suspended any plans for additional green energy projects that originate from wind, solar and energy-from-waste, conveniently citing a recent report that says Ontario has more than enough electricity for the next decade.

The Liberals are cloaking Tuesday's surprise decision with a mantle of fiscal sobriety, saying the suspension will save the province $3.8 billion. But most anyone who isn't part of Premier Kathleen Wynne's caucus knows the truth -- the Liberals' green energy plan, while probably well-intentioned, has been horribly mismanaged and is part of the reason for the skyrocketing electricity bills that are angering citizens.

Wynne and her colleagues hope calling a halt to new projects will increase their political capital, but it won't. The $3.8-billion savings that Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault is touting is chump change when compared to what has already been spent, much of it foolishly. Thibeault's savings amounts to $2.45 a month for every Ontario household -- at a time when those same households are struggling with inflated post-summer utility bills that include the cost of air conditioning.

This is a government that hasn't balanced a budget in years, and expends approximately $1 billion a month just to service the provincial debt. Yet it holds up $3.8 billion that won't be spent on projects we don't need as an example of frugality.

In this case, the damage has already been done. According to Auditor-General Bonnie Lysyk, over the past eight years the Liberals overspent $37 billion on new power generation projects because they ignored their own planning process.

Lysyk also reports electricity bills in Ontario rose by 70 per cent between 2006 and 2014, and has further warned those rates will only continue to climb, costing Ontarians an additional $133 billion over the next 17 years.

Moreover, for years it has been reported that Ontario routinely produces too much electricity, frequently selling the surplus at a loss to neighbouring American states. And yet the Independent Electricity System Operator, in its Sept. 1 outlook report, indicates Ontario now has enough generation capacity for at least a decade.

Why has it taken so long to make a determination that has been apparent for some time, and that the auditor-general has highlighted in an earlier report?

Conveniently, but more-so ironically, the Wynne government is using the IESO report as its cue this week.